The aesthetic value of whitened visible tooth surfaces has led to the development of a number of techniques for whitening ranging from the application of plastic veneers to the visible surfaces of the teeth to whitening toothpastes.
Many of these techniques employ bleaching involving the application of gels to the visible teeth surfaces. The gels break down either over time or at an accelerated rate by the application of radiant energy to produce byproducts operative to oxidize the discolored tooth surfaces and produce whitening. The bleaching compounds typically employ forms of peroxide and are often applied using trough-like mouth trays which may be filled with the gel-like peroxide compounds so that all of the visible surfaces of a patient's teeth are whitened at the same time.
Radiation may be directed at the gel covered teeth surfaces to accelerate the decomposition of the gels. A variety of systems have been proposed for applying radiant energy to the gels within an oral tray such as the systems shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,137 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,278. These systems generally provide intra-oral light sources, either within or on the outer side of the trays containing the gels. The power sources for these lights may be either battery power or power applied from a source outside the mouth which is connected into the mouth.
The application of electric power for the illumination sources within the mouth is problematic. The user of the device is required to bite the tray and there exists a danger of applying the electrical potentials used to power the lights into the patient's mouth. The illumination sources are also fragile and the oral pressures applied during the use of the device may break them. Moreover, while the devices are often used in dentists' offices, it would be desirable to provide a system simple and safe enough to be adaptable for home use so that it could be employed by consumers to periodically perform the whitening process and thereby maintain a highly aesthetic look over extended periods of time.